


Past Imperfect - Conclusion

by 852_Prospect_Archivist



Category: The Sentinel
Genre: First Times, M/M, Partner Betrayal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-10
Updated: 2013-05-10
Packaged: 2017-12-11 08:54:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/796299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/852_Prospect_Archivist/pseuds/852_Prospect_Archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Blair and Jim must face an evil and use thier love to survive.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Past Imperfect - Conclusion

## Past Imperfect - Conclusion 

by clcarne

Not mine and making no money here

This has some nc/bsdm/S&m elements and the partner betrayal is of the unwilling sort.

This story is a sequel to: Past Imperfect 

* * *

"Blair... we won't gag you. Remember the safe word?" 

"Yes, Jim. I remember everything." Blair hung his head and waited. 

END part two 

Past Imperfect - Past Pleasure 

//Means that for this part we are in Bruno Walthram's head// 

NC17 with NC and BSDM 

//My, my. This is such a special treat. JJ is at my beck and call, just like the old days. He'd always been my favorite conquest - a love starved boy in the body of a Greek God. Now, he was watching me with those bright, magnificent eyes, awaiting my orders.// 

"JJ, warm Blair up with the suede flogger." Bruno was impressed as Jim - naked save for a heavy black leather harness - expertly teased the firm young ass with the flogger. 

The 'Librarian' Blair was years older than his usual toys but he seemed younger, more innocent than some teens he'd played with. He'd found out that a single mother, a hippie, had raised the young man. Bruno scowled and touched the silky curls. "Blair, were you spanked as a child?" When no answer came, he tightened his grip painfully, feeling the individual strands of hair pop free of the scalp. 

"Yes!" Came the anguished gasp. "I mean no sir! My mom didn't believe in spanking." 

"Typical. Leftists have no notion of the character a good beating can provide. JJ here is a prime example. His father never spared the rod and look how he turned out." 

"Jim was..." His tone angry, Sandburg started to speak, then shut his mouth with a snap. "Yes sir. I can only hope to aspire to the happiness you and Jim have found in giving and receiving pain." 

"Sarcasm, toy?" Bruno watched as Jim began swishing the strands of soft leather harder over the quivering bottom. 

"No sir!" 

"That's enough, JJ." 

//It feels so good to command him - just like the old days. Of course then my boy was the most exemplary sub. The perfect warrior, handsome and virile and the perfect whore who lived to please me. I loved him more than anything - before or since - in my life. To think I let that slut Oliver interfere.// 

Bruno ran his hand over the heated flesh of Blair's ass and down a sturdy thigh. He usually liked his toys shaven smooth but for some reason the soft scattering of body hair appealed to him. He picked up a flogger formed of heavy knotted cords. He soaked it in cold water for a moment then handed it to Ellison. "Time for the next step I think." 

Ellison took it and swatted the young man over both cheeks. The pink flesh turned rosy red as droplets of icy water flew. At the startled gasp, Jim walked around the upright and leaned close to Blair's face. "You remember, right kid?" 

"JJ! You barely touched him!" Bruno used the chains and pulleys to make the platform horizontal. "Blair wants this. Am I right toy?" Bruno used just a hint of threat. 

Sandburg lifted his head and tried to look back at them. "Yes, please. I've been sarcastic and a... tease. I deserve to be punished." 

//The boy was an actor. There was always a special thrill when working with an unwilling toy. It was always so much more exhilarating than torturing an obedient sub. This was even more piquant. Sandburg was an unwilling toy who had to pretend willingness. It was wonderful.// 

Bruno laughed and went to Jim. "Stand between his legs and alternate sides until I order you to stop." Bruno waited until the blows began to fall before he leaned close. He let his fingers roam over Jim's hard ass cheeks and the smooth crease between them. Over Jim's shoulder he watched as the long cords arced over the bound man's fiery buttocks and also left reds welts on the pale skin of his lower back and upper thighs. "You can pick up the pace now. Put these beautiful muscles to work." 

"He's new to this, sir." 

"Do you hear him protesting?" Bruno grinned and jabbed two dry fingers into Ellison's tightly drawn anus. 

Jim swallowed a gasp and shook his head. "No sir." 

"Then hit him harder!" This time, when Jim struck, Blair let a shout of pain escape. "Go ahead and scream, boy. It feels like bees, doesn't it. Like being stung by dozens of bees." 

//All my life, I have subscribed to Victorian ideals. The rod and the cock are my life. I dislike the crassness of electric gadgets beyond what I need for security. JJ knows that I always disliked computers intensely. Nasty anonymous way of communicating. This is communication at it's best. Leather and flesh and heat and screaming.// 

Bruno smiled gently as he unzipped his leather pants and freed himself. He rolled on a condom and pressed the tip against Ellison's center. He laid his head on the muscular shoulder and leaned forward. Holding the narrow hips in his huge hands, Bruno forced his cock into his old lover, the condom providing scant lubrication. Ellison tightened at the pain of the intrusion and ground his teeth as he deliberately swung the whip. 

//He's pausing after each impact, waiting for the safe word. Isn't love marvelous.// 

"Listen to him sing, my dear. He's singing out his lust for you... his lust for this." Bruno slammed home and Jim shouted as he lashed out harder than before, making Sandburg scream. 

"Blair, do you want to stop?" Ellison sounded worried. 

"N...no....do...don't stop." The boy's voice was wavering. 

//Damn. That noble streak of JJ's always was a burden to me. The boy was forever plagued by moral certainty. It was probably why he assumed that - just because I loath and despise computers - that I would never use one to look up an old friend. When you think about it, it was probably why he became a cop.// 

Bruno withdrew and plowed into Ellison again as he whispered. "Take him, JJ. You know you want to. You know he wants it, too. Just like the other night. You raped him and he loved you for it, right Blair?" 

"Yes....please..." The tear choked voice, so deep and pained, made Bruno's heart swell and throb in time with his cock. 

//This is just too good. I feel so powerful, having my beautiful boy back under my control. Forcing the righteous Officer of the Year to punish the little meddler who lives with him. I don't know what that drug did to him, but I plan to play this out for as long as possible. I dread the moment when he remembers and I have to kill them both.// 

Past Imperfect - Past Pain 

//This means that we are in Jim's mind this time.// 

Same warnings m/m/bsdm/nc and other assorted alphabets. 

//BW is fucking me. It's exactly how I remember him doing it - after that first time. Hard and huge and painful, with no thought of pleasure for me. His hot breath is panting in my ear, giving me orders that are hard to refuse. He understands more about life and pain and love than anyone in the world.// 

But, Jim knew something was wrong. Bruno was lying and so was Blair. 

"Take him, JJ." Bruno grunted as he thrust into Jim's clenching ass. 

Tossing aside the flail, Jim bent at the waist and kissed the heated buttocks. His position made it simple for Bruno to redouble his efforts and Jim had to bite back a bark of discomfort as the big man repeatedly withdrew completely and then penetrated the small pucker again. 

Then he forgot everything except the taste of velvety flesh as his tongue teased the heavy balls exposed by the cruelly spread legs. He could trace every mark he had inflicted as they overlaid and intersected on the rounded cheeks. He could see a tiny break in the skin of the anus even as he opened the way and began to breach it with his tongue. A single tiny drop of blood welled up and Jim froze. 

The smell - the unique iron and salty sweet smell of Blair's blood filled his senses. 

//Blair's blood. Somebody hurt him. Blood and tears and terror radiated off the bound man.// 

"Blair?" Jim felt his body go numb. He was dimly aware of Bruno behind him and the meaty slap of flesh on flesh as he was brutally fucked. The memory of the past few days flooded back and Jim had to swallow hard to keep from vomiting. 

//I hurt him. I promised to protect him and I let myself be used to hurt him. This time it wasn't a game... this time it was me - choosing to ignore his pleas - choosing to trust Bruno. ME! James Joseph Ellison betraying every oath and ideal I had ever held dear. Always the same! I always end up hurting the ones I love most - the ones who deserve it the least.// 

Jim's sight faded, mercifully blinding him to the damage he'd done. The disgusting sounds of Bruno's assault faded and Jim's world became the overwhelming, warm, metallic scent of blood. The taste filled his mouth - as if a hundred forks touched a hundred fillings - so strong that his throat closed. Then there was only a blackness so profound that it obliterated even Blair from his thoughts. 

()()()()() 

"Oh please...please...stop it. He's not going to wake up if you keep doing that." The deep voice seemed to be coming from a great distance. 

//That's Blair's voice... he sounds scared. I should... what?// 

"It's like whipping a damn corpse anyway." 

//Why did Bruno sound so furious?// 

"Let me loose. I have to talk to him. Please, he could be having a problem breathing." 

//Aw, kid. Don't worry about me... I deserve to suffer and die for what I did.// 

Jim tried to get closer to the voices but he was hanging upside down and tied very tightly. 

//I'm tied over the damn horse. Tied damn tight, too.// 

"Maybe I should let you kiss him. Maybe that would wake him up." Bruno's words were punctuated by the sound of a thin rod cutting through the air. Blair's scream told Jim that the older man had changed targets. "I must try the pretty bottom for myself. Perhaps I'll find out what captivated JJ." 

//Chains... he's moving Blair. He's going to rape him!// 

"Bl...Blair?" Jim finally got the single word out in a strangled croak. He lifted his head and tried to focus. As his senses returned he became aware that he'd been viciously beaten with a rod. He ruthlessly dialed down his sense of touch and concentrated on his sight. Across the room, he could see the underside of the X - now upright. Blair was facing Jim, eyes almost black with shock dominating his pale face. 

"Look who's awake, Blair." Bruno looked over Blair's head at the helpless Ellison. "Now he can watch." 

"Bruno... BW, sir. I would be honored to take you. Please, sir. Punish me." Jim forced himself to look into the clear, sparkling green eyes. Bruno smiled and kissed Blair's neck from behind. 

"Remember when I told you about my escape from that warlord. Every few days for over two years he would have me lashed. Then he would stroke himself as he watched his troops rape me." 

"Yes sir, you were very brave." Jim tried to look admiring. He tried to couch his words in the formal phasing that BW liked. "Please... let me suffer as you suffered." 

"Well put, JJ... or should I say Detective Ellison of Major Crime." Bruno let his teeth scrape over Blair's throat under the ear. "Now where was I?" 

"I'm not..." 

"Oh yes." Bruno interrupted Jim's words. "The warlord began to enjoy my agony. I began to enjoy it too. I began to take part in my own debasement. He would order me to beat and sodomise other prisoners before they were shot, and - I never told you this - I did it. I enjoyed it." 

"Leave him be." Jim tried to keep the man's eyes on him. "He's just some innocent college kid. This should be between men - warriors like us." 

"Your roommate isn't a child. He's a half-dozen years older than I was - when I was being fucked by twenty men in one day." 

"Please! Do whatever you want to me. Just let him go." 

"Don't Jim...." When Blair spoke this time his voice was filled with love. His expression betrayed his feelings of hopelessness. "He's gonna kill us both. Don't give him the satisfaction of seeing you beg." 

"I think that this will torture you more than him." Watching Jim, Bruno leaned forward. Blair resisted him. Jim could see it in the clenched teeth and wild, dark blue eyes. Bruno was capable of anything if his desires were thwarted. 

"Blair! Just let him. It's only your body he's touching. He can't touch you. Not really." 

"Jim..." Blair gave a hoarse, pained shout as his eyes closed. He let his head fall froward in defeat as Bruno hunched over him. " Jim...sorry..." Blair sobbed as his hair covered his face. 

"Nothing he does to you..." Jim tore at his bonds for the hundredth time. "...changes how I feel. I love you." 

//I shouldn't have said that. Now, Bruno knows how much this hurts me. How many more times am I going to cause Blair pain. What good is it being a fucking super human if I can't help him.// 

"How precious." Bruno never took his eyes off Jim's face as he violated Blair. He fisted the thick curls and tipped Blair's head to the side as he continued to speak in a conversational tone. "I was telling you about the most exhilarating sexual experience of my life. The warlord decided that he wanted to try sodomy. He - of course - wanted the biggest and the best available." Bruno thrust forward and Blair moaned in pain. "So he had me whipped and tied to a chair in his office. He insisted that no guards be present for his deflowering." Bruno chuckled and punctuated his words with thrusts of his hips. "So, there I was - with this gross, pasty, maggot of a man - naked in my lap. He was short so I was able to kiss his neck as he squealed like a cat in heat. I felt the pulse under my mouth as he bounced and spurted semen onto the dirt floor. As he came, I bit through his jugular. He bled out before I finished and the sensation of his body dying around me was exquisite." 

Jim held his breath as Bruno ran his strong white teeth over the slight stubble under Blair's jaw. "Please don't." 

"Oh, never fear. For now I'll just use him." Bruno was pumping so hard that he rattled the heavy wooden frame. "I've already called a few 'special' clients. They have a strong dislike for police officers. In one case in particular, it's quite personal, Detective." 

"Bruno... please..." Jim tried one last time to reach Walthram. 

"When I told them that I had your adorable gay lover and that he was part of the deal... the price doubled. These men really want to do truly terrible things to you. Then they want to watch you both die - very slowly." 

"If you know I'm a cop, you know there are others who know where I am." Jim bit out the words knowing they might mean immediate death." 

"This place will be closed up before dawn tomorrow." Bruno paused and shuddered as he leaned in against Blair and buried his face in the moist tangle of curls. "Sweet... very sweet indeed. I see how you could find this irresistible. Maybe I'll change my mind and take him with me after you're dead." 

Blair had been silent except for the occasional cry of pain. Now he lifted his head and shook his hair away from his face. "I would kill you the first chance I got. I would try to do it in the most painful way I could." 

"I'm not afraid of you, Puppy." Bruno jerked back brutally. 

"You should be, Swine." Blair's deep voice took on an eerie resonance that made Jim swallow hard. "No matter what you do... where you go... I'll find some way to end you." 

Bruno backed away slowly then turned to the guard at the door. "Don't take you eyes off them for a second." At the door he paused and ordered. "Plug them... but no gags. Let them have a final, 'farewell' conversation." 

Past Imperfect - Past Possession 

//Means we are in Blair's mind this time// 

Same Warnings: 

//Something dark is boiling up from deep inside my soul. That pathetic goon is pushing something hard into me and I feel the pain as distant, wet thrust. Jim doesn't even lift his head as a large disgusting rubber 'thing' is pushed into his ass. The skin from the backs of his thighs to his shoulders is covered with nasty welts, most of which are leaking blood. Now, I discover that this is just the warm-up to the real torture. Hell!// 

Blair twisted his left hand and felt the leather stretch infinitesimally. He'd been left hanging upright, with the cross locked in place. He was facing Jim and his back was to the door. 

The guard was handling Jim's cock. "That's some body you got, Cop. I ain't never had a piece of cop ass." He roughly twisted the 'toy' and chuckled when Jim shuddered. When he returned to his post at the door, Blair could see the outline of a thick erection in his trousers. 

"Jim? Can you hear me?" Blair whispered almost soundlessly. 

"Blair?" Jim sounded exhausted. "You should have gone along with Bruno. You might have been able to get away from him. At least you'd be alive." 

"Jim. Shut up and listen." Blair continued his whispered tirade. "You didn't buckle these leather things very tight." 

"Oh god, Blair! What I did to you? I'm so sorry." Jim looked into his eyes and Blair was shaken at the expression of guilt and self-loathing on the handsome face. 

"Shut up! See if you can get the guard away from the door. I can pull loose if he's not looking." Blair silently mouthed the words. He saw a fleeting spark of hope flare before Jim closed his eyes and his expression became shuttered. 

"Hey, guard." Jim growled. "You too big a chicken to fuck a cop?" 

"Master Bruno said to plug you and you're gonna stay plugged, Pig." 

"You call him master? Master tells you when to get it up, I suppose?" 

"Shut yer mouth!" 

Blair watched as Jim gave the guard his coldest smile. "Why don't you shut it?" 

The guard was across the room in an instant. "I'll shut yer pig mouth. See how you like this - and don't try no bitin' or nothin'. I'll gouge out one of pretty boy's eyeballs if you so much as lay a tooth on me." 

Blair couldn't see Jim, but he could tell from the thrusting motions the guard was making that he was fucking Jim's mouth. 

//Way to go, Jim. Gross - but way to go!// 

Blair twisted his hand and felt it slither out of the blood and sweat soaked leather. Jim was deliberately making a keening, humming sound and the guard was grunting and cursing in a loud voice. Quickly unbuckling his right wrist, Blair bit back a groan as his arms fell to his sides. Silently - mentally thanking his mother for all those years of Yoga classes - Blair twisted down and unbuckled his left ankle, then his right. The chains rattled but the increasingly excited guard drowned them out. 

//Enjoy yourself, you asshole. It's later than you think.// 

Blair staggered against the wall and his hand brushed the shelves that held the instruments of torture. There was a section of one-inch iron pipe about four feet long with leather cuffs at each end. 

//This isn't going to work. My fingers won't work right and I don't think my legs are going to hold me up.// 

His expression grim, Blair hefted the heavy pipe and forced his numb hands to clutch it tightly. Gritting his teeth, he walked toward the big man who was forcing himself on Jim. 

//The bases are loaded. Bottom of the ninth. Sandburg steps up to the plate.// 

Blair swung for the fences. 

The man fell without a sound and Blair couldn't find it in his heart to spare him a glance. He crouched down and winced at the pull of the plug inside him. He quickly untied Jim and waited as the tall detective stood and stretched. Then he was caught as long fingered hands gripped his arms, before rising to caress his face. "Oh, Chief. What the hell did I do to you?" 

//Loved me... saved me... begged for my life...// 

"There's no time, Jim. We both did what we had to." Blair leaned his forehead against Jim's chest to hide his flush. "My hands are kinda shaky. Will you pull this thing out of me so we can go." 

"Relax, Chief." Jim pulled with a steady pressure. "Deep breath and push. Sorry." 

"It hurt a lot more going in." 

Jim removed his own plug with a quick, brutal jerk, then knelt and began to strip the guard. He tossed the pants at Blair. "Put these on." 

"You wear them. You might need to blend in, if you're going to get us out of here." The guards all wore black slacks and muscle shirts. 

Jim nodded then yanked off the guard's boxers. "Here, Chief." Jim quickly dressed and cuffed the naked man to the bottom of the horse. He jammed a ball gag into the man's mouth and turned to Blair. "There is a raid planned for tomorrow afternoon if I don't signal them to hold off. We have to get out of here and lay low till then or find some way to call them in now." 

//I can't walk. I can't turn down my pain dial, like you. I feel like someone poured scalding water over me. My arms are screaming and my feet are numb.// 

"Sure Jim, right behind you." Blair hefted his trusty newfound weapon as Jim checked the automatic the guard carried. "Lead pipe cinch?" 

"Someone is coming." Jim motioned for Blair to be quiet. When another guard entered, Jim caught the man before he could open his mouth. There was a sound like someone twisting a bunch of celery and the black clad man dropped in a lifeless heap. "Get dressed!" Jim tossed Blair the tee shirt and pulled off the dead man's black socks and joggers. 

//Oh man. Jim just killed a guy with his bare hands. He's deep in black-ops mode here and I think I'll just stay out of the way.// 

Blair took the shoes and socks but drew the line at the soiled trousers. "Jim, I'll just wear the boxers." He crouched down awkwardly and put on the too large shoes, pulling the strings tight. A strong hand steadied him as he stood up and staggered slightly. When he reached for the pipe, Jim took his hand and pressed the dead man's compact automatic into it instead. As Jim had taught him, long ago, he checked the load and the chamber. The sentinel watched him with a sad, almost tender expression for a moment before steering him to the door. 

"Stay behind me. If they take me, down do whatever you have to do to survive. Understand?" 

"If you see that we can't make it..." Blair hesitated then continued. "Don't let them take us alive. Okay?" 

"They aren't getting either of us, Chief." Jim pressed a kiss on Blair's temple. "Come on." 

//Do or die. Never thought about that before but this really is 'do or die'. I can see Jim push everything else out of his mind before he stalks down the corridor. I'm carrying a gun and I feel so cold and calm and focused that it scares me. Pain is pushed away for now and all my thoughts are centered on survival. On protecting Jim. Oh man. That's like a Poodle sticking up for a Rottweiler.// 

Jim urged Blair into a darkened doorway and waited. Another guard, another silent attack, another weapon tucked into Jim's belt. 

//Three guards down. That leaves three maybe four more and Walthram. I want to kill Walthram. I want to kill the fact that he used Jim's love to control him. I want to kill the memory of him fucking me - fucking us - like we were nothing. The man is a predator and even though the feeling scares me - I want to kill him.// 

In the kitchen, Blair watched as Jim calmly folded a large towel around his pistol and shot two men finishing breakfast. One managed to pull his weapon but was dead before he could aim it. 

Jim relieved the bodies of their weapons and stuffed the extra clips into his pockets. Blair had the insane urge to announce, 'you have the right to remain silent' to the motionless and gruesome figures. 

//I'm losing it here. I can feel myself slipping away from reality.// 

In the adjacent pantry/mud room Jim found boots, jackets and a crudely folded pair of paint spattered coveralls. "Put these on." He handed Blair the clothing before opening the door and peering out. "We might have to go to ground for a few days until the Feds turn up. Find some provisions. I'll listen for trouble." The cold air streaming in reminded the young man that they were on an island in the North Pacific. 

Blair found a canvas shopping bag and stuffed it with some bread and canned soda. He added some bags of cookies, a knife and a couple of cans of Spam. Trading his new shoes in for a pair of lace up boots he stood up and squared his shoulders. "Ready to go, Jim." As an afterthought Blair grabbed a handful of lawn and leaf bags from their box on the shelf and put them into his pockets. 

Jim jammed a knit hat on Blair's head and one on his own. Then they silently left the house and raced toward the towering forest. 

//I'd almost forgotten that this place is ninety-nine percent wild, seriously rugged terrain. Oh, well. If the cold or the wolves get us it will still be better than what that freak Walthram had planned.// 

They ran for what seemed to be hours - at least to Blair. He could hear the waves crashing when they stopped. 

"Are you okay?" Jim slipped his arm around Blair's heaving shoulders. 

//Nothing a couple of days in a trauma center wouldn't help.// 

"Fine... where are... we...?" 

Jim walked him stealthily to the edge of the trees. In the distance a chopper landed near a pier at the waters edge. "I think Bruno is meeting his 'special clients', " Jim watched as two well dressed men left the craft. "Well, well? Sonny Carper and Hector Freyes." 

"Friends of yours?" 

"Something like that." 

()()()()() 

Part 6 - Past Imperfect: Past Surviving 

warnings (BSDM NC m/m NC17. 

//Means we are inside Jim's mind// 

//I never knew I could love someone so much. I mean I knew I was in love with the kid... for a hell of a long time... but now it's so much more. When I handed him that gun, and he looked so earnest and serious. It just about ripped my guts out.// 

Jim stood in the shadow of the trees and watched as the two men headed toward the house. They had no doubt paid extravagantly for the privilege of torturing him. //And Blair// he reminded himself. 

The bedraggled young man stood at his side and swayed slightly. His eyes were shadowed in his pale face and his lower lip was swollen from being bitten. The outsized coveralls hid the raw skin of his wrists and ankles. The rape hadn't done any serious physical damage that Jim could discern but the kid was in a lot of pain - mental and physical. He could smell sweat and fear and blood and Walthram on Blair and it made his stomach clench. 

"I'm going to stash you somewhere safe and get onto that chopper. I can use the radio to get the feds in here now." 

"I'll go with you." Blair stood straighter. "I'm okay." 

"No. I can go faster.... What's this?" Jim hesitated as the two crime bosses returned to the pier. Bruno was behind them and there was much shouting going on. 

"What are they saying?" 

"They're taking their money and going home. Bruno wants them to stay and help look for us." The chopper blades began to move and drowned out the men's voices. As Freyes and Carper moved toward the craft, Bruno pulled a pistol and shot both men in the back. "Two more down," Jim shrugged. He led Blair away from the beach as the chopper rose into the air and swooped away. "I'll have to think of something else." 

//I'll think of something else - yeah right. I have to save Blair. Even though I know that I've lost him already. Being around me has caused him nothing but pain.// 

Jim jogged away, following a path deeper into the woods. After a quarter of an hour, he paused and insisted Sandburg drink some sweet soda and eat a few of the soft cookies. Now that the chopper was gone, he could hear Bruno raving in the radio shed. He was frantically trying to recall either his yacht or his helicopter before the feds arrived. 

Meanwhile, Blair was nearly in shock and neither of them was really dressed for the weather. The lightweight jackets and gloves were better than nothing - the boots were good - but they needed more. They needed a place to hide away. 

"I have trash bags." Blair huffed as he looked up. "Lawn and leaf size." 

//The kid reads my mind sometimes.// "Let's find a good place to go to ground." Jim searched until he found a densely wooded area sheltered by rocks. Stealing branches from the pines on the outer edges he filled three plastic bags. He lay them under a particularly low growing tree in the center of the grove. "Here, Chief." 

Blair shuffled froward. "You sound like you're calling a dog." He gingerly knelt and lay on the lumpy black plastic. 

"It's gonna be a one dog night then, cause this is where we're sleeping." 

Jim filled three more bags with a thin layer of boughs and piled more greenery nearby. He carefully swept their tracks away and returned to the 'nest'. Sinking down into a sitting position he covered them both with the makeshift plastic comforters and then a layer of wide flat pine boughs. Although satisfied that they were invisible, Jim resolved to remain awake. There was still the danger of wolves. 

//I can feel the kid shivering. Hell.// 

"Get up closer." Jim opened his coat and shifted Blair into his arms. It didn't take much urging. The younger man gave a muffled groan as he snuggled his face into Jim's chest and more or less used him as a mattress. "Better?" Jim lightly stroked his guide's lower back and cringed at the heat of the bruised flesh. 

"Sure." Jim could feel the lips on his chest curve into a smile. "This is damned close to cozy." 

The brave words made Jim's heart hurt. "I'll get you out of this. I'll find some way to pay you back." 

"My fault. I turned up where I wasn't supposed to be." Blair yawned. "I messed up everything. If anything, it's my fault you got... caught." 

Jim gritted his teeth and listened to Bruno and his two remaining minions start to search. They had placed incendiary devices in the house and the yacht was on it's way. Bruno decided to spend the next few hours looking for Jim. Walthram was a great tracker in his day but Jim was pretty good at laying a false trail, too. "They're coming - stay quiet when I give you the sign - okay?" 

"I'm sorry, Jim." 

"Listen Sandburg." Jim whispered. "You have every right to hate me. I remember everything I did to you. For a while there I was the twisted tool that Bruno created all those years ago. 'Catcha helped me get over that. Then some pretty heavy-duty shrinks worked on it, too. It's me who's sorry." 

//One sorry son-of-a-bitch. When the kid gets his head together he'll run so far and so fast... and he'll be right, too. I deserve to be alone. If I'm lucky I'll go out 'line of duty' - if not there's always an accident while cleaning my gun // 

"I don't hate you." Blair's hat covered head bumped Jim's chin. He pressed an awkward kiss on the side of the older man's jaw. "I love you. But I'm sorry... I don't know if I can do the whole pain thing. Playing is okay but... serious pain... not a turn on." 

Jim tightened his left arm around the man on his lap. "Hell, kid. You don't need me. You deserve a lot better." He had been using his hearing - following the three men as they crashed about in the forest. "They're getting close, so shush." 

The soft, full lips were close to Jim's ear as they breathed silently. "I do love you." 

)(()()()()()()()()()()()()()()() 

Past Imperfect - Past Possession --- Violent thoughts and general lunacy 

//Means we are in Bruno's mind.// 

//Oh JJ! You are such a lovely creature. You took out my guards like they were nothing. And they were. Trash! You were always my finest creation - my true soul mate. And now it has to end. A final battle between two warriors.// 

Bruno slung the high powered rifle on his shoulder as he studied the complex device in his hand. It was the latest military hardware. An ultra-sensitive tracking device that could trace heat signals over several acres. "I found them." He spoke into the radio. "Head into those rocks. No one takes Ellison but me." 

//I'll enjoy killing JJ. He's a predator just like me. Whatever, I wonder, did he see in a wooly little lamb like Sandburg - sweetly tempting as he was. And now the lamb was for slaughter, because this had become a game for wolves.// 

()()()()()()()()()()() 

Past Imperfect - Past Principles --- Same warnings plus some shaman stuff too. 

//Means we are inside Blair's mind.// 

"Chief. I have to go." Jim eased out from under the warm coverings and leaned close. "Please stay here." Jim pressed a pistol into Blair's hand. "No matter what." 

"Jim?" 

"Please." Jim gave him a brief fierce embrace. "I have to do this alone." 

"Don't let them kill you." As Jim he crawled away on his belly, Blair whispered after him. "I have a feeling there's a lot of great sex in our future." 

//And I love you... and I'll die if you get killed... and please come back.// 

Blair scooted back into the nest Jim had built. Not so cozy anymore. Hell. His pains faded as his breathing began to come faster. //Anxiety attack. So, not the time for one of those.// Darkness began to edge in on his vision and a deep familiar voice teased his ear. 

"Why do you let him face them alone, Young Shaman?" 

"I'm a liability." 

"You are a Shaman. You have the power of your animal spirit." 

Suddenly his vision cleared - no... more than cleared - it was beyond perfect, and black and white. He wasn't in the dark under a pine tree. He was on a rocky ledge looking down on Jim. The Sentinel was crouched behind some rocks, guarding the path that led to his nest. 

Blair used his suddenly sharp eyes to find Bruno Walthram. //Wow, this must be what it is like to be Jim.// Even from an impossible distance he could hear as Bruno ordered his confederates to circle around and take Jim from behind. 

From a different angle he watched as Jim tried to cover all three men with his pistol. Even Blair knew he had no chance against the high-powered rifles. They could kill him before they were even in his range. The thought made him howl out his anger. He listened as the howl echoed over the rocky slopes. He listened as Bruno scoffed at the wolves. 

The wolves had learned to ignore the unpleasant people living on their island. Now they stirred to an older instinct - a long forgotten partnership with certain humans. One of their own, and his mate, were in peril. Human logic and deadly instincts merged and became a single entity. 

The first gunman was so intent on Jim that he never saw the long gray shape immerge from the forest. His throat was torn out before he could make a sound. 

Jim evidently heard the second large man climbing into the rocks above him. He looked up in time to see the man stand and stagger as he was struck down. The rifle fired harmlessly into the rocky soil. 

At the same instant Bruno fired and hit the rock hiding Jim. Sharp splinters of stone flew and hit the sentinel. He fell as blood poured from a gash in his forehead. Stunned, Jim didn't see as Walthram ran forward, his rifle at the ready. 

"Jim." Blair shouted. It came out as a growl. Blair could feel the power in his body as he pushed the wolves one last time. He could almost taste the warm iron/sweet taste as strong jaws crushed the wrist holding the rifle. Instinct and hatred merged and the other wrist was caught and shattered. Blair listened to the man scream and - for an instant - enjoyed it. "End it, Brothers." He sighed as the darkness returned to the edges of his sight. He heard Bruno drown in his own blood and then he heard nothing. 

()()()()()()()()()()()() 

Past Imperfect - Past Peace 

//Means we are in Jim's mind// 

Jim brushed the blood off his face and focused on the vision before him. He'd sat up just in time to see Bruno Walthram torn apart by a pack of wolves. //That wasn't Blair. It couldn't be the kid standing there, looking wild and distant and fierce at the same time in his beads and furs.// 

The vision faded as the wolves withdrew into the forest. //I have to get back to Blair.// 

Jim banished all thoughts as he raced back to the trees where he'd left his love. "Blair? Kid?" Jim snapped as he all but dove into the nest. Blair was uncovered, his head back and his pale features slack. //What the hell happened.// "Wake up!" 

Jim held the almost lifeless figure in his arms and tried to warm the cold body. "Come on, Chief. We won. Somehow we won and you got to wake up now." 

Jim wrapped Blair in his coat and pulled the makeshift covering over them both. He tried to remember his medic training - prayers from Sunday school - incantations from the Chopec ceremonies - anything. Finally he ended with a desperate plea. "Please take me! Let him live and take me." //I deserve to die in prison for what I did to him. I promise I'll confess... I'll turn myself in for rape and assault.// "Please...please...please...." 

"Jim..." it took a sentinel to hear the gasping voice. "I was a wolf... I could see... everything...." 

"The wolves saved me." 

"I was there." Blair struggled weakly, trying to sit up. "The piece of rock hit you...you okay? 

"It's just a..." Jim paused. The kid hadn't even opened his eyes yet. "...scratch." 

"You can't tell about what happened." Blair's voice was stronger now, almost angry. "If you confess and go to prison I'll have to confess too... maybe they'll stick us in the same cell." 

//I didn't say that out loud. Not about prison.// 

"I'm a cop. I assaulted you." 

"You weren't in your right mind. Bruno drugged you... almost killed you... and I won't let you tell." 

"Let me?" 

"Don't make me rough you up." Blair tapped Jim's shoulder with his knuckles. 

Jim sighed and let the familiar banter lift some of his feelings of dread. "Okay. If the law doesn't get me, who does?" 

"Your sorry ass is the sole property of a poor but brilliant college student." Blair let Jim draw him into a kiss. It was warm and deep and it promised a lifetime of love. "I'll be such a kindly jailer, you won't ever want to escape." 

"We'll need a story to tell the feds?" 

"Bruno caught us - drugged and beat us up pretty good but laid off the kinky stuff because he was saving us for some bad guy customers but then we escaped and you had to take down some of the guards." Blair took a deep breath. "Then we hid in the woods cause Bruno shot the bad guy customers and then came he looking for us and he must have startled the den of wolves because they attacked him and his remaining men - whatdja' think?" 

"You don't want to tell about the rapes?" 

"I know it's cowardly, but if I'm going to be working with cops I don't want them treating me like a victim." Blair sighed and You think the fed's will find evidence?" 

"No Kid. By the time they get here the house will be history." Jim listened as the timed explosions popped in the mansion. "Just don't let me ever hear anyone, even you, call you a coward. Can you wait till we get back home for the doctor?" 

"Can I?" Blair shrugged. "I'm hurting but I don't think I'm torn up too bad." 

"Same here. If you're sure - I know a doctor who'll check us out, no questions asked." 

"Will the dead guards cause you trouble with IA?" Blair still seemed worried but Jim just shrugged. "Everyone is dead. We're the only witnesses." 

"I hope the wolves don't get into trouble." 

"This island is a protected sanctuary." //Just like Blair to be worried about everyone and everything.// "BW... Walthram blackmailed an interior secretary into letting him set up his operation here. Sending me here was a last ditch effort to pin something... anything on him. Even the hard core S&M groups offered information on him. He was a real bad man, Chief." 

"And I killed him." 

"Listen Kid." Jim made sure they had eye contact. "Walthram would pick up innocent street kids and convince them that he loved them. Kids as young as twelve and thirteen. He could manipulate people. Hell, I was a grown man and he made me his willing slave. He'd keep the kids for a while... until someone paid for the privilege of torturing them to death. Then he'd film every scream and every drop of blood. THAT'S what you killed." 

"I didn't do it because he was evil. I did it because of what he did to you." 

The quiet voice went through Jim like a knife to the heart. He had to struggle to speak. "O... okay, lets go over the story once more. They'll see our wrists... we tell them that we were tied up... We say we're exhausted and can't talk too much right now... cold and exposure... yadda yadda..." Jim stopped when a soft snore rumbled against his chest. 

//What the hell. I'll say I was drugged and can't remember much. The kid's better at bullshit than me anyway.// 

James Ellison, Sentinel of the great city of Cascade curled around the compact from of his friend, guide and beloved and slept. The nest was surprisingly warm and... oh yeah... cozy. 

()()()()() 

Epilog: Present Promise. //Means we are in Blair's mind// 

It had been two weeks since they had returned from the island. The questions had been harsh but Walthram's organization was history and the monster was dead. Both Jim and Blair had refused medical aid, beyond bandages for their wrists and pain pills. Later in the loft, Jim called a friend... a pediatrician... who checked them out. 

Blair became uncomfortably aware that the handsome man - Doctor Andrew Rainey - was a former lover of Jim's. 

//How much did I miss. I lived with the man for two years and I never caught on.// 

Jim hovered as Blair struggled with the horror of the island. Both talked to a shrink about it and eventually they came to grips with their own actions. Both healed physically. Both had gotten checked out to make sure they had acquired no STD's. Both retreated into their own rooms and their own beds. Neither spoke of love again. 

//This has to end. I can't let Jim withdraw into his shell again. I know he loves me. I know it.// 

Blair waited until Jim was watching the news. He went into the bathroom, took a long hot bath and shaved his five o'clock shadow. By the time he was done, Jim had retired upstairs. Wearing only a robe, Blair hesitated for a moment before climbing the steps. At the top he cleared his throat and said, "Jim?" 

As Jim sat up, the covers fell from his long muscular torso. "Yeah, Chief." 

"I... ahhh thought I..." Blair's words were cut off. Jim was there, taking him into strong arms and kissing him until his legs went weak. Jim could really kiss - wet and hot and overwhelmingly sensual kisses that made Blair achingly hard. The robe was untied and slipped off his shoulders as Jim trailed kisses and nipping bites down his shoulders and arms. 

//Woof... who knew that my ribs were an erogenous zone? And my fingers and palms.// 

Jim turned and in one motion laid Blair on the crisp cotton sheets. Blair touched the beautiful man holding him and felt the smooth, sleek flesh under his hands quiver before his hands were caught and held. "Just let me love you this time, Blair." 

//Hey, no problem... especially when you kiss me there.// 

Jim ran a trail of kisses down the insides of Blair's legs and back up to his groin. Only after he mouthed and licked the firm testicles did he move //at last// to the heavily aroused cock. Jim's mouth felt like heaven as he took the large erection deep into his throat. The simple sensation almost made Blair come. 

//It must be a sentinel thing. Each time I come close - he stops and begins again. More petting and hair stroking... kissing and nipple licking... how does he get my balls into his mouth and how does he know that drives me nuts?// 

Blair had stopped trying to touch and was gripping the blue sheets with his fists. "Please Jim... Please...? 

Jim rose up on his knees and towered over the younger man like a pagan god. Then. he got out of bed, his motions almost casual, only his erection betraying his own excitement. "You caught me by surprise." Jim opened his nightstand and took out a tube of gel and a packet of condoms. 

Blair calmed a little and watched as Jim used his fingers to open and lube his own passage. Then he used his own lips to roll the condom down Blair's rampant cock. A quick pump with a fist full of gel and he was ready. Jim used his strength to lower himself onto the hardness, his blue eyes never leaving Blair's face. Pleasure, mild discomfort and absolute joy marked his handsome features as he sighed. "Big boy... you feel so beautiful inside me." 

Blair wrapped his hands around Jim's cock and pumped, thumbing the tip and using every trick he'd ever tried on himself. Jim arched his back and clenched as he lifted and then slammed back down. It didn't take much fucking to drive Blair over the edge. He was rising to meet Jim, thrusting his hips and fisting the thick cock in his hands. "Oh... your ass... mine... love... oh..." 

Blair's vision dimmed as his balls tightened and then exploded with ecstasy. He was dimly aware of Jim's shout and the warm flow of come on his hands and belly. Some instinct made him stifle his own cry with his fist. The exquisite taste of Jim on his hand opened his eyes. 

Jim was still on him... still hot and tight around his cock... still shuddering with the aftermath of orgasm. Blair deliberately licked the warm seed from his fingers, aware of Jim's intensely sexual gaze. He met that gaze and said. "I love you... everything about you..." 

"You are the best thing in my life." Jim smiled his wide slow smile and kissed Blair as he eased himself off the twitching cock. 

"I'm not gorgeous like you... or tough... or good at sex... " Blair blushed as Jim relieved him of the condom and kissed the tip of his cock. 

"I love you... just the way you are, which is perfect." 

"You mind if I sleep here tonight?" 

"You're sleeping here from now on. Always and forever." 

"Cool." 

"As for tonight, though..." Jim gave Blair that lovely smile again. "...I don't think we'll be doing much sleeping." 

"Cool!" Blair shoved the taller man onto his back and began an enthusiastic if somewhat clumsy seduction. "I think I'm gonna need another taste." 

"I'm all yours, Chief." 

**THE END**

* * *

End Past Imperfect - Conclusion by clcarne: clcarne@postmark.net

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Disclaimer: _The Sentinel_ is owned etc. by Pet Fly, Inc. These pages and the stories on them are not meant to infringe on, nor are they endorsed by, Pet Fly, Inc. and Paramount. 


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